March 09, 2009

Dr. E. Daniel Martin: Doctor, Preacher, Founder, Servant Leader

Last year, I was thrilled to become a member of the Board of Directors for The Naaman Center, a faith-based drug and alcohol treatment center in Lancaster County. Since then I have been blessed to get to know Dr. E. Daniel Martin, the Medical Director and one of the Founders of The Naaman Center – a true Servant Leader. Dr. Martin founded the Naaman Center in 1989 as a way to provide a Christian oriented intensive outpatient program for chemical dependency treatment that emphasizes spiritual growth and relapse prevention. He is a caring, compassionate, highly trained and generous person.

Dr. Martin trained at the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine where he received his medical degree in 1973. He completed a psychiatry residency there in 1976 and was certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in 1978. For the next 20 years he worked for Penn State Hershey in the Department of Psychiatry serving at various times as Psychiatry Residency Training Director and Vice Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry. He continues as an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Penn State University College of Medicine.

Twelve years ago Dr. Martin resigned from his clinical work at Hershey and began working for a firm that provides medical and psychiatry care for local jails. He continues to provide psychiatric care for two local jails, Dauphin County Prison and Berks County Prison.

Dr. Martin has served as a pastor throughout his career and as a psychiatrist. Presently he is the pastor of New Name Christian Fellowship, a new congregation which he started in response to the sense that God wants the community of faith to be a healing and transforming community.

As both a psychiatrist and a pastor, Dr. Martin uses his skills in psychiatry, along with his passion for God, people, and the community to provide outpatient chemical dependency treatment, education, and support to the addicted person at the Naaman Center Dr. Martin does most of his work at the Naaman Center on a volunteer basis as a public service.

Dr. Martin is a gifted teacher and holds seminars on psychiatric issues for staff members at the Naaman Center. He also gives seminars both locally and internationally on the integration of the community of faith and the clinic. He is convinced that the healing process is enhanced when the church and the medical/psychiatric clinic work more closely together.

When The Naaman Center’s Treatment Facility in Lancaster opened in 1992, its purpose was and still is to provide intensive outpatient chemical dependency treatment and education to the addict, the family, and the community. Most treatment centers emphasize either a purely Christian approach or a medical model. But the goal of the Naaman Center is to combine a modified 12-step program with a Christian perspective and state-of-the-art psychotherapeutic techniques. The Naaman Center sensitively guides clients in the exploration of a loving and accepting God who is interested in their personal recovery and healing process. The Naaman Center is licensed by the State Department of Health and staffed by Certified Addiction Counselors.

All staff members and board members of The Naaman Center are Christians who are committed to this ministry. In everything they do, they extend the healing ministry of Jesus Christ to those who suffer from drug and alcohol addiction.

The Naaman Center goes beyond just helping the individual. They understand that chemical abuse and dependency affects not only the addicted person, but the family and other relationships as well. Relationship restoration is integral to long-term recovery and therefore, family sessions and group therapy for friends and family members are also offered by the Naaman Center.

Dr. Martin is not only a founder of The Naaman Center, but has also remained as one of the most dedicated members in the Board of Directors since it was founded in 1989. He brings the prestige of a leader in local community psychiatry to the Naaman Center. Dr. Martin is passionate about his work and has said that, “To me the most exciting reality is what God is able to do in average, every day kinds of people who give Him the space to do what He can do.” His passion for God, people, and the community are apparent in all of the amazing work he does. Dr. Martin is a “Servant Leader”.